August 10th

August 10th, we're a third of the way through August. ~Sigh!~ To add to the fun, Labor Day comes early this year.

Let's estimate, roughly twenty days before summer is over. Have I accomplished any of my goals?

Cleaned the clutter, priced it, and had a July 4th yard sale? No.

Made a FlyLady chore file box? No.

Written the great American novel? No.

Short story? No.

Blogged every day this summer? No.

Have I gone to the open houses at the historical societies? Yes.

Walked through town like a tourist? Yes.

Found the boardwalk? Yes.

Read books by authors I love? Yes.

Stayed in touch? Yes.

This is the summer, may-be the year, that I attempt to fulfill a life long dream - to finish writing my novel. Not only that, but to confidently send it to a publisher and not become fat headed when I am published or not fall apart and never right again when I join the millions of others who are rejected.

In another few days I will be joining in a writer's workshop. I'm finding that I am the kind of person who needs to connect with other writers to stay motivated.

Their is still summer left, it still lays spread before us, golden in promise. This autumn, I hope to have a bountiful harvest.

R2D2

Louis is our Lab. We have Louis because we thought that Louis would come in handy doing little things around the house, like keeping escaped convicts at bay (he did), keeping the rooster from attacking our kids (he did) and just being a lovable member of the family. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
What Louis had done is destroyed two of my vacuums, although I strongly suspect that if they were in another house, they'd work better.
See , short haired Louis sheds. Not a little, but a whole, vacuum clogging lot.
BL, before Louis, I happily joined the bag less,vacuum cleaner owners of America club.
AL, after Louis, not only have I had to quit the club and buy a vacuum with a bag, I've jumped ship and now vacuum my house with a small shop vac. I also now dish out over $1 for each one of those little bags.
My other purchase was a grooming loop, pictured next the vacuum. Louis' hair fills up the grooming brushes so fast, that I as spending as much time getting the hair out , as I was brushing him.

So now, I have a cute little vacuum that looks like R2D2 from Star Wars, and is so light weight, it's easy to pick up and carry around when necessary.

I used to be kind of embarrassed that our home vacuum was a shop vac, but after using it, hah! Let everyone else use their sissy little Orecks or Dirt Devils or whatever that fancy shmancy one is called.

My little R2D2 could vacuum the siding off your house!! Heck, I can even vacuum my basement just by running the vacuum hose over the uncarpeted, wood living room floor.
Gone are the days of having to unclog a vacuum hose.

This vacuum is the SUV, no, the HUMMER of

the vacuum world.

Ahh! Feel the power!!

Greatest Albums of all time!

I just read a blog that was published today about what are the 20, all time greatest music albums of all time? The caveats were that the albums had to be known to Americans and couldn't be "The Best Of" albums. There was a complicated formula for figuring out the "best."
Of course, no surprise, Led Zeppelin dominated the list, as they dominated the 70's.
But on a more sentimental criteria, I think the way we figure our favorite albums besides of course the music, is the way we felt while the music was playing, and the memories that are evoked when we hear the music now.
My father enlisted in the service to fight during WWII the June he graduated from high school. For him, music begins and ends with the Big Bands: Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, The Andrews Sisters, Harry James. As far as my father is concerned to this day, the production of music ended when his favorites stopped recording - tribute bands etc are only pretenders in his opinion. My father isn't one for introspection, but I suspect when he listens to his music (on cd), he's back in the simpler times of the 1940's, a young soldier off to defend his country. He's drinking an ice cold Coke, not worrying about the sugar and smoking a Pall Mall, not worrying about the nicotine. Life, even at war, is good.
I can remember walking into the High School cafeteria while cuts from Aerosmith's "Toy's in the Attic" blared. And "Stairway to Heaven" will always evoke such a plethora of memories and emotions, words can't even start to convey any of it.
So, what are your favorite albums? They might not even be from your "era." The nice thing about living when we do, is that we aren't limited to only what is popular right now. We can enjoy music from years before we were born right on to the music that is popular right now, and everything in between.

Junk File

Nothing like looking into your junk folder to learn about yourself. Apparently I'm a 40 something year old looking for love, about to lose my house in foreclosure, looking to sell the makers of ortho, gardasil and either I was injured giving birth, or I was actually injured at birth - which I'm sure a few people have known all along.
Of course, while I'm looking for love, in my 40's, there is a lawyer that will help me through my divorce without losing my assets (like I have any worries in that department!) because divorce is hard enough without losing everything I've worked years to acquire.
And apparently, I want to ditch the career I have now and study to be a lawyer, a teacher, a pharmacist and study for my masters - all at home, presumably while lolling around my assets, painting my toenails and eating bonbons.
See, no cause to worry about the future, it's all been thought out already!

Natural Cure

The summer is hot and humid leading us to having a new guest, mildew smelling towels. Not a big deal. I throw a few of them into the wash, use really hot water, and done. Right?
Nope. Now my husband has work shirts that smell like mildew, along with hand towels that smell.
I smell the drums of the washing machine and dryer. To me, they are odorless. To my husband, they smell like mildew.
He thinks the answer is to use bleach and hot water and let the machine finish a cycle without clothes in it.
I do it, and close the laundry door on the strong smell of Clorox. Hot water makes Clorox more obnoxious.
When the machine is done, I fill the drum up again with super hot water and then add in a three cups of white vinegar. I put the offending clothes in, let it agitate for about five minutes, and then let it sit all day. At about five that night, I add laundry detergent and let the washer do it's thing. As soon as it stops, I put the whole thing into my dryer on it's hottest setting.
I've only had to do that twice, and no more mildew smell!
Here's a guest I hope never, ever returns!!

Two weeks down

Two weeks down, summer is 1/4 over and then it's back to the everyday grind of the rest of the year.
Of course that means that there are still six weeks left to summer, so what is the big deal, right? Still plenty of summer left.
Where on earth did those 14 days go??? Where? They just seemed to slip away. Unmarked, but definitely mourned. I want those 14 precious days back.
The first week of July I saw the new American Girl movie "Kit Kittredge", an American Girl growing up in the Great Depression of the 1930's. I believe this is the third American Girl movie to be made, but the first to go directly to movie theaters instead of television.
The movie was very good, and I enjoyed it. I hope American Girl makes movies of the further adventures of Kit Kittredge. It would be nice to have wholesome movies featuring girls of true American character as regular fare for our American girls instead of the usual junk that has been the norm.

Answers from the past

It's doesn't take much intuitive powers to know that I love history and living in New England is a history lovers dream, especially on a "Open House" day at the museums.



One of the museums that I visited this weekend was the Thomas Lee House off of Route 156 in Connecticut. I really was lucky because not only was it free admission day, it was also the day with costumed hosts and hostesses going about their everyday work.



Outside the musuem was a non-costumed man with two, three year old Devon oxen. It was a real treat to see how well trained these two massive, 1300 pound plus beasts listened to their owner and strived to fullfill his every command! It was also a treat, when I overcame my fear of being either crushed or gored, to discover how gentle and good natured Frank and Jesse were. They were so soft to pet, and their calm nature led to me feeling calm as I pet them.









The Thomas Lee house was built in the 1600's. The house is a saltbox, and is furnished with items that are either historically correct, or once belonged to the Lee family.

Good naturedly, they let me take pictures in the house, and one of the costumed hosts even posed for me.

Wallhanging for Autumn/ Halloween

This wall hanging was a long time coming. As long time readers of this blog know, I started this blog in 2005 when I was living on a 5 acre farmette in South Carolina. It was during this time that I fell in love with the art form that is called, Country, Folk Art, Naive and Primitive by turns.
This art form didn't require that the artist be the graduate of a university or academy of art. It didn't require what the general public would call artistic skill. It didn't require goat hair brushes, the best of pigment paints or stretched canvas.
What it did require is a genuine desire to express one's dreams, life experiences - oneself, through art.
The medium is accessible to rich or poor. You can purchase paper mache boxes, stretched canvas, heavy pigment paints. Or you can use empty salt cylinders, acrylic paint, sticks from outside, brewed tea (for staining) to make your creations.
So while I was sweltering in the Carolina sun, my thoughts were elsewhere, dreaming of cool nights and big orange pumpkins, colorful leaves, and trick or treating.
As I day dreamed, I drew and embroidered a Jolly Jack O'Lantern. I don't know if you can see it well in the picture, but there is a wondering pumpkin vine at his stem that meanders onto his face.
Of course, I couldn't forget my cat Jack, so I embroidered him on another square with a big, part mischievous, part happy, grin on his face.On that square, I embroidered my last name, which I try to do on all my creations, some where, for that time in the future (waay in the future?) that my things become collectible.

On the last square, I embroidered "Happy All Hallows Eve" and an orange full harvest moon. A spooky tree reaches to the sky and there are bats too.

Well, then we moved. And moved again. My creation stayed safely packed, just waiting for me to get back to work. That happened in 2007 in Connecticut when I sewed them into a patchwork wall hanging.
This month, I tea stained and then sewed on two loops for hanging.
So, you see, this simple piece of art work has a bit of history to it!

Hottest day continued

This is a picture of my hand-sewn mice for the holidays named Stars and Stripes. They'll be in my Ebay store, which you can find by following the link SAGHARBORGIFTS.NET

This June is not a day to be trifled with. When we got up this morning, it was already 80 degrees. When we drove to Lowe's to use a $10 coupon to buy a new Weber Grill because I am not using my stove or oven in this weather, our car thermometer said that the temperature outside the car was - drum roll - 90 something degrees.

So what is the silver lining in this sweltering day? Why, that my husband is going to be grilling again! He's a master griller, by far, but since the move north he hasn't grilled.

But today, Saints be praised, he is!

"Should we pick up these sticky things?" he asked referring to a huge bag of marshmallows. "Do you want to burn some?"

Next into the cart are some pre-made hamburgers, a long handled flipper, charcoal - all the supplies of a professional master of the grill.

He sounds so lighthearted and happy about our expenditure, I know he is looking forward to our grilled dinner as I am.

And all because of a roasting hot day in June!!

The First Weekend in June

It's the first weekend in June, and I am, I hate to admit, kind of worried. Why? Because it was sooo blistering hot today, and it isn't even officially summer yet.

The thermometer says 80, I think it is probably closer to being 90, and I feel like it is more like 100.

How will I make it through the summer? I wonder with some trepidation.

Will I spend my family's next winter heating oil funds on this summer's airconditioning?

Not a pleasant thought.

Does a blistering summer mean a warmer than usual winter, or a colder than usual winter?

Alright, enough with the negativity. How about some happy thoughts? Like, while it's a blistering summer, it's still summer. Days with ot much that has to be done, and all day to do it in. Time to read, to organize, to dream, to write.

Two more weeks and counting!!!

Reflections on May

So, in little more than 24 hours, the month of May for the year of 2008 will become a part of history as we move into June of the year 2008. What a weird May it was too, come to think of it.
June. Three weeks until the end of school. Fifteen days of actual school. And then, no morning rush. No , nag, nag, nag about school work. With the price of gas currently being $4.15, I will be doing all my errands, doctor appointments etc into one round trip whenever possible. I think I can expect that this summer won't have a frantic pace.
A nice long, leisurely summer stretches before us. I can hardly wait!

But although June is a matter of hours away, the start of summer vacation is still days, weeks away.
Next week, is the BIW week in which I'll be striving to get as much writing done as possible. Optimistically I signed on for ten pages. Hope springs eternal!

I'm crossing my fingers for a moderate summer heat wise, although if it rains a few hours every day, or a few days a week, I won't complain.

Ah! Summer is on the horizon.

The post for the almost last day of May

What a weird spring this has been!!

Not being all that enamored of the cold winter, I'd been longing for spring. Easter came early this year, but that didn't mean we'd have warm weather following it. Darn!

So, full of hope, we started seeds so they'd be ready to go in the ground by the middle of spring, which give or take, is May.

But just when I thought it would be safe to plant our little peat pots, we get a freeze warning and a skim of ice.

Now, the nights feel hotter than the day and I'm kind of tempted to put in all our window unit air conditioners. Luckily the electric bill came in ........, we'll wait a bit before putting in the air conditioner.

Ebay has been kind to me this week, I've woken up to two store sales this week. One was something that I had bought years ago, never used, and am glad to have sold.

Oh, but the other ....

The other is an embroidery sampler that I embroidered. It is a saying that my grandfather taught us when I was a child.

Use it up,
Wear it out.
Make it do
Or do without.

That saying used to really annoy me, when I wanted something new to replace a perfectly fine, but out of style something else.

But, as an adult? During this particular economic time? I can appreciate the truth of it.




I also painted and sanded the frame to look old.

So this was a satisfying sale to me.

Five lovely twenties

Our tax return came in. Yippie!! Thinking to myself, I'll clean up some bills and we can each buy ........

"I need money for gas..." my better half said breaking into my lovely train of thoughts.

I peeled a twenty from our little stash of 5 identical twenties. "Here." I said generously.

"Ha!" he said ungratefully. "What is this for, one day?"

I gave him another twenty. Only three more bills remained in my stash.

He laughed.

"Still not enough?" I said quietly, hoping that by keeping my voice down he would realize this was a very serious matter and that he shouldn't tease me.

His face showed that he in fact wasn't teasing, and had every intention of having every one on those precious twenty dollar bills.

I gave him the bank envelope. "Here!" I said as I thrusted it toward him, my voice just on the very edge of being petulent and resentful.

"You really have no idea of how expensive buying gas for the cars is." he said, and I will point out here, ungramatically! (So there!)

"No, I don't." and that was a truthful answer. I knew it was expensive, but I didn't need the stress of knowing how expensive it really was.

He left. I didn't have lovely daydreams on how to spend the lovely $100 from the tax refund.

I watched Deadliest Catch.

He came home. He gave me the change - a ten dollar bill.

Something has to be done about the cost of gasoline.

If not, we will be poorly fed people driving well fed cars to work, to do it all again, each day.

Food? or Fuel?

Five lovely twenties

Our tax return came in. Yippie!! Thinking to myself, I'll clean up some bills and we can each buy ........

"I need money for gas..." my better half said breaking into my lovely train of thoughts.

I peeled a twenty from our little stash of 5 identical twenties. "Here." I said generously.

"Ha!" he said ungratefully. "What is this for, one day?"

I gave him another twenty. Only three more bills remained in my stash.

He laughed.

"Still not enough?" I said quietly, hoping that by keeping my voice down he would realize this was a very serious matter and that he shouldn't tease me.

His face showed that he in fact wasn't teasing, and had every intention of having every one on those precious twenty dollar bills.

I gave him the bank envelope. "Here!" I said as I thrusted it toward him, my voice just on the very edge of being petulent and resentful.

"You really have no idea of how expensive buying gas for the cars is." he said, and I will point out here, ungramatically! (So there!)

"No, I don't." and that was a truthful answer. I knew it was expensive, but I didn't need the stress of knowing how expensive it really was.

He left. I didn't have lovely daydreams on how to spend the lovely $100 from the tax refund.

I watched Deadliest Catch.

He came home. He gave me the change - a ten dollar bill.

Something has to be done about the cost of gasoline.

If not, we will be poorly fed people driving well fed cars to work, to do it all again, each day.

Food? or Fuel?

If ....

IF


If .........

Isn't it funny how a little two letter word can hold so much possability?

If....

If he hadn't crossed the street at that moment.....

If she hadn't lied to .........

If I hadn't seen him ............

If they had only tried .........

If only it hadn't ..........

IF we didn't ........

Eye ef, if. Two letters that can change history.

The Last of May BIW

Seriously, I need my mother.
Okay, so I don't sound too much like a Mama's girl, I need the voice of authority equal to that of my mom's when I was a kid.
How much BIW writing did I accomplish today?
Uhhh.................
Okay, what did I get done today?
I had quality time with my daughter watching the anniversary edition of The Wizard of Oz. I don't know how many times I've seen it with her, but hey, quality time all the same.
The floors of my home are spotless (until my sons come home anyway, or the loopy Lab Louis comes in or .... why do I bother?) under the assumtion that to lose writer's block, first you defrost the refrigerator. Apparently, cleaning the floor isn't an involved enough chore to make this work.
3. My husband has had the steak dinner of his dreams, mainly because I still had writer's block and heh, I was bored.
4. I've answered ALL my e-mail. Even e-mail that was in my bulk folder from months ago. Even to people I don't know. Unfortunately, this doesn't count for writing.
5. I've tracked down on the computer every show my husband couldn't remember the day or time of , that he would like to watch.... sometime. Yes, totally unnecessary and didn't earn me ANY brownie points.
6 Blogged again so that anyone as uninspired as I am right now wouldn't be bored. Still doesn't count as writing.

Like I said, I need my mother!!

BIW???

So how did my BIW go? Not well. Jackie Collins, Debbie Macomber, heck any aspiring author can rest easy. I got 4 pages, albeit , 4 perfect pages done. But that is it.

Four perfect pages does not a book make.

Oh well. Only two more weeks until June, and the chance to try again.

BIAW

This Monday I will be participating in BIAW. What is BIAW, you may ask? Book In A Week. It's a group that I am a part of on Yahoogroups. And if you would like to join also, be my guest. But hurry, because like I said, the next BIAW starts on Monday.

So this is what I'll be doing, when I'm not busy with my day job, and then my night job of cook and mommy.

It's amazing how many hours you can get out of a 24 hour day, when it is the only way you can get it.

So I'll be BIC (Butt in chair), HOK (Hands on Keyboard), TAM (typing away madly). Sounds like a geometry formula doesn't it?

Wish me luck.

http://www.book-in-a-week.com/ Check it out if you've always felt like there was a book in your soul.

The Demise of the Dollar Store

It was such a gorgeous day last Sunday that the kids and I went for a walk through town, and that is when we found the sad news, the demise of our village dollar store the Dollar Depot.

See the Dollar Depot isn't closing, but it's items are not going to be sold for $1 per item anymore. They will sell for $1.25 now, excpet for cards and gift bags which will remain at .99.

The reason, as you can probably guess , is because of the rapidly rising cost of fuel and fuel surcharges.

~sigh!~

I remember the demise of Penny Candy when I was a child. Now the Dollar Depot bites the dust!

Is nothing sacred?

Witchy woman

Winter of 2007-08 is over, thank goodness. I guess to be more acurate, the calendar says it's over. Apparently, Mr Winter hasn't gotten the idea thoroughly through hiss head because he sneaks in every night, and doesn't have the decoram to leave until later in the morning. Pretty brazen for an unwelcome visitor, in my opinion!!

As usual though, I'm thinking of my favorite season, autumn, and the holidays and celebrations that come with that time. So I mixed up some paper mache, naturally.

I made a little shaker, differently this time. I experimented with little plastic cups, tin foil , lentils and glue trying to make a rain stick, but to accomplish this with the knowledge I have now anyway, would require too big of a shaker. So I did my usual little lentil shaker.

Now to my favorite dirty hands part, the paper mache!! This time I attempted to get even more sculptural and gave my new shaker a long dimensional nose. I worked hard with different shades of acrylic paint, and polyester fluff hair.




I'm quite taken with my little witchy Folk Art shaker, I must admit! She is on Ebay auction right now. So , let's hope she sells. For some reason, I haven't yet matured enough as an artist to not view an art sale as the ultimate form of appreciation.



If not, I'm prepared to wait. Or even send to a consignment shop.

Ol' Vinegar

Way back when, in my knee high to a grasshopper days, I used to live near my grandfather. My grandfather was from not the old school, but the old, old school. He was a tough nut from upstate New York, born at the turn of the century when people only went to actual, schooled doctors when they were dying. Coincidentally, it was the only time you went to the hospital also.

Any other time, you used a doctoring book. Back when I was a kid, doctoring books were looked down upon as , well, remains of a more primitive, ignorant past. My grandfather thought that was ignorant.

After all, it was the doctoring books that cured cousin Alva from scarlet fever, and the doctoring book that cured his uncle's abscessed tooth. God himself put the things on earth that were used in the doctoring book cures, things like onion, sassafras, honey and more.

My mother was a proud member of the modern medical community. She had studied to get her degree. But motherhood taught her that there was an exception to every rule.

One day, a book called "Folk Medicine" appeared in our home and both of my parent's read it. Soon after things changed in our house. A third shaker appeared on our table. It contained powdered kelp. Then the sugar bowl left our kitchen table along with the salt shaker. They now resided in the cabinet that was between the kitchen sink and the stove. That is where my father used to make his coffee. Although the children gave up having sugar on the morning cereal, my father couldn't give up having sugar in his coffee. Having the sugar bowl out of sight was supposed to help us have it out of mind.

Then a giant sized bottle of Sue Bee clover honey replaced the small bottle that used to be in our family pantry. Finally! A reason to rejoice! Everyday, a teaspoon of that would be mixed with a teaspoon or so of apple cider vinegar in a glass of cool water before dinner.

Now, to most, this mixture doesn't hold too much appeal, but to a kid that just loved the deli pickles sold right out of the barrel at the German deli at the end of our block, it was a real treat! Sweet and sour at the same time.

But then the sweet Sue Bee clover honey was replaced with a dark, buckwheat honey from a local bee keeper. This new honey was dark, and strong tasting, not anything like the light clover honey we were used to. We couldn't get over the strong taste. It made us gag and became more trouble than it was worth to get us to take it. Since the clover honey wasn't from a hive in our area, it's use was limited, and so we happily said goodbye to the buckwheat honey, and sadly saw the clover honey closely monitored for a slight sweetening of breakfast cereal.

And time passed. As an adult, I found it easier to use sugar than syrupy honey, and then as time still marched on, I preferred the lower calorie count of splenda to sugar.

As a child, I'd always been interested in recycling, walking gently upon the earth and the Internet bought me in contact with like minded people. I learned ways of replacing my bleach, my detergent etc, and I became interested once again in vinegar.

And then I remembered the book "Folk Medicine" that had appeared in my childhood home.

Well, the internet makes everything so simple. Our town library is on line. Type in a few key words, and you can find almost any book, and then order it from any library in the state. Soon it will appear at your library, and you can read it in the convenience and comfort of your house. And so I became re-introduced to "Folk Medicine."

It was originally published in the 1950's, and hit on topics that are very pertinent in this new century we live in. Obesity, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, insomnia are just a few of the conditions the book written by Vermont doctor Jarvis touched on.

I really suggest you try to get his book from your library or inter-library loan and read it. So much of it makes sense, especially now with the advent of the drug resistant bacteria.

A Book Meme

Tagged by Lily Thorn, whose link is on my favorite list. Join it, and let me know, with a link if possible. I'd love to read your answers!!!

1) Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

No books that I am aware of, although I can't say the same about some movies.

2) If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Hmm, three characters... well I think I would love to go to an afternoon tea with Mary Poppins because of all the dream like adventures that delighted me as a child, and I enjoyed reading to and sharing with all my children. I would love to live in Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove for a while and learn to knit from Grace or Olivia's mother. Lastly, I'd like to take a writing course from Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote.)

3) (Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realize it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

A book sooo boring that dying would be sweet relief? I can't imagine. However, in my 60's, or when my health takes a serious dive, I will read Agatha Christie's "Curtains." Monsieur Hercule Perot was my favorite character, and "Curtains" is the book in which he dies.

4) Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?

I honestly can't think of one.


5) You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalize the VIP).

I'm drawing a blank....

6) A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

Old English and or Latin. I would love to be able to read Shakespeare without Cliff Notes!


7) A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

Rereading books from my childhood is nostalgic to me, so this is something I periodically do anyway, Dicken's "A Christmas Carol," would be a good choice.


8) What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

Good grief! Do you hear that echo? That is the echo of sound in my empty head!!

9) That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leather bound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favorite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

Oooh, I love that Fairy!! My dream library would be central air, central heat and at least two stories high, open, airy and bright. At night, one could gaze up and watch the stars, meteor showers and the phases of the moon thorugh the skylight. It would have a stone fireplace with a comfortable wing chair with foot stool positioned in front of it, in easy reach of a toasting fork. Through out the library would be an assorment of mis -matched chairs for various needs : a wooden rocking chair, a recliner, a comfy 'grandma' chair, a little couch for reading to a child. There would be plenty of lights, and candles for when candlelight would be desired. The library would have a spicy smell of leather polish and cinammon. There would be a butler to enquire if one would desire some refreshment?, at 10 am, 3 pm , 7pm and 9 pm. All the books that have been my friends throughout my life would be on the shelves, printed on acid free paper and securely bound for a long life.

Last night

Yesterday was a miserable day in New England. It was cold, below freezing. Not below freezing like it is in Alaska and the Polar Circle, but in the 20 degree range where you definately need heat. So, I started one of my epic battles to light a fire in the wood stove.
Actually, lighting a fire isn't the epic battle. Keeping a fire going is the actual battle. I'm getting better and better at keeping a fire going in the woodstove and soon it was warm and cheery in our little cottage by the sea. But it wasn't cheery outside. The skies were gray, and after a few valiant tries, the sun gave up trying to have any influence over the day. It warmed up enough so that the earth could be drenched with not-quite-freezing rain. Not to be out done, the wind began to blow.
A thoroughly gloomy day.

To the accompanient of the crackling fire, I began to read "Steve and Me", written by Steve's widow Terri Irwin.

Ooma

Ooma. What is an Ooma? Ooma can be an acronym for the object of my affection. And that is what I hope my Ooma is. See Ooma is also a new gadget that provides Voip (acronym for voice of internet provider, I think), which is nothing all that new anymore, but Ooma is a one shot deal. As in, you buy Ooma, and then you don't have to pay for Voip service anymore. You still have to provide the cable internet access, but that's it.
Now, I don't know about your household, but here at Sag Harbor Gifts, we're tightening our belts. We've always looked for ways to stretch our dollar, but like the majority of Americans, it's becoming harder and harder to do. That is why I was so excited to hear about and order Ooma. It's set to come in the next week or so, and I'll let you know how if goes for us.
Ooma is sold on Amazon, and as I've mentioned previously, we're Amazon Associates, which means, if you follow our link to buy your Ooma we will get a commission on the sale.







I also like the idea of the Scout, a little Ooma add on that allows you to have an extra phone wherever you have a phone jack. It seems like you can have Ooma voip without any of the inconveniences that people have complained of with other Voip services.

Mompack

So if you want to start selling on the Internet, what do you do? Who do you talk to? Who do you ask advice from?

For me, Yahoo groups were a life saver! Ebay For Fun and Profit put me in touch with a vast well of savvy knowledge to help me with Ebay. True, Ebay has been sardonically called "Fee Bay" with no end in sight it seems. But how else can an individual , with limited funds get exposure on the TV, in print, and on the net?

For those who would like their own website, I found Qflea and Mompack to be very helpful. Both have websites, link exchanges and people with website information for questions I haven't even know I didn't know to ask!

Lastly, don't forget the groups that are available for people who craft. I found Unique Crafters, A Craft Business, and A Primitive Heart wonderful for keeping me in touch with camaraderie, techniques, and what is popular and selling at the moment.

So what's with the wolves? They're the Mompack, and one requirement they have is that to join, you link back to their site. Don't try to fool them with this requirement, after all , everyone knows you can't fool Mom, never mind a Pack of them!

Countdown to Easter 2008

Simplify!

Don't think of elephants. Set your timer or alarm for five minutes from now. Close your eyes and don't think of elephants. Don't think about their flapping ears, their gray color, their long trunks. Don't think about them in the jungle.

Ready? Go. Come back after the alarm goes off five minutes from now. I'll be here.

Sooo, were you able to not think of elephants?

That's what is going on with me. A few weeks ago, I had a bit of surgery done on my hand. While I recovered, I couldn't do any crafting. Had to keep the site clean and dry. Relax. I hate relaxing.

I tried to keep my blog updated. But all I could think of is my hand. The fact that cases have been reopened, wheat has doubled in price, home foreclosures are at record highs could not keep my mind occupied. All I could think of is keeping my hands out of paper mache etc.

So now, the stitches are out, and, again, there is a bit of a hitch and I have to keep everything clean and dry.

It's all I can think of, no matter what is going on. It is my elephant.

Now may-be that I've posted about it, I can blog about something else!

Simple Christmas Stocking

Do you hang a stocking on Christmas Eve? Or do you hang one days earlier as part of your holiday decorating? Does your stocking have a history to it?

I love things like Christmas ornaments and decorations that have a history to them. So I altered a new felt stocking with candy cane striped fabric and a hand embroidered , tea stained patch, then put it all back together with a blanket stitch.

The embroidery on the patch looks like it's been faded in spots by the sun, and yet the stocking is bright enough to impart holiday cheerfulness.

Primitive Stocking

Follow this link to view more info about this stocking or would like to purchase it.

It's been a long, long time

So I had every intention of writing regularly in my blog, and, I haven't written in almost exactly two months. What's that about?
Is it because I have a lack of commitment, or too many commitments that have more of a right to my time?
So much of my life has changed in the last few years.
Seaside, country, new shoreline. Island life, southern life, northern life.
Hurricanes, poisonous snakes, nor'easters.

The longer you live, the faster time flies. Boy, is that old bromide the truth! Just by serendipity, I read my e-mail tag line and was shocked to realize that Christmas is only 11 days away! How can that be?

An Ode to October

Ah October, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

I love thee for the wonderful colors that are yours, the oranges, reds, crimsons, golds, yellows and browns that we call copper and bronze.

I love thee for the blue skies that recall memories of times past.

I love thee for the pumpkins that were made into pies that mixed with the scent of cinnamon and cloves evoke one word, HOME.

I love thee for the family holidays and celebrations that I know your arrival ushers.

October, how do I love thee? In so many different ways!

It's here!

It's here, Autumn, my favorite season!

Autumn has something for everyone. Warm, even hot days. Cool nights. Blue skies and sunshine. Blustery, nippy cool days. Colorful leaves. Lazily drifting leaves. Wildly swirling leaves.

Pumpkins are ready to pick in autumn, a favorite family occassion for us. We look forward to it every year. We usually indulge in cold apple cider or hot chocolate, all depending on the temperature that day.

The sights, the scents, the weather and best of all, Autumn ushers in the last of the years holidays.

Ahhh! Autumn!

Keeping things in proportion

It's still September, but the mornings have been chilly lately and more and more leaves on the neighborhood trees are changing colors and drifting gracefully to the ground. It is the start of Nature's annual Autumn Ballet.

Soon, it will be Autumn, both on the calendar, and by the feel of the climate. This is my favorite time of year. It is so colorful. New scents and familiar old ones like the scent of pumpkin pie baking.

The weather is a relief also; not so hot that you feel like you are being baked, and not so cold that you feel like a package of Birdseye vegetables. It's time to reunite with old friends - comfy sweaters, sweatpants, even heavier jackets.

The Holiday season is on it's way also, the fun ones like Halloween. But also the ones that seem to bring less and less joy every year, like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Why? Because we are starting to not keep things in proportion. We strive to make the perfect Thanksgiving Dinner, the most memorable Christmas. I always think of Debra from the "Everyone Loves Raymond" series breaking down in tears when she loses the baked squash, her only yellow. How many times can we identify with this stress? Why do we put this stress on ourselves and family?

Let's try to keep things in proportion this year. Yes, Thanksgiving Dinner and Christmas Day are important, but the trappings aren't the most important thing. It seems we are always touting how important the spiritual aspect, the non-commercial aspect of holidays are and yet stores are always jammed with irritable last minute customers striving to make their holiday "just perfect." Where is the proportion to that?

This year, take time to smell the roses, or to be more exact, to watch leaves change colors and smell the scent of fresh Christmas trees. Try to have an old fashioned celebration where family being together was more important than what gifts were bought. Read Laura Ingles Wilder's memories of Christmas in the Little House Books to inspire you. How happy she remembers was when she received a piece of candy and a shiny penny.

And remember kiss, both candy, and keep it simple. (The picture is for a single serving size of candy corn, just under 150 calories. Keep it in proportion.)